Marketing

Let’s face it, the economy today is challenging and business owners everywhere are trying to learn how to adapt fast so they can still be in business five years from now.

The model has changed and many smart, savvy business owners are struggling to understand exactly how they can use Social Media Marketing to jumpstart results in their business.

This full day workshop is designed to help you accelerate your business, and to assist you in gaining an immediate short-term social media business plan geared towards propelling you and your business forward.

Using a simple but powerful methodology that you can apply over and over gain for results you will learn exactly how to:

Leverage your presence online so you can build a strong social media following

Determine what you want your following to know about you and your business

Understand the strategy behind monetizing your online presence

Selectively choose the right social networks for you and your business

Strategically plan how to develop your content for your new customer

Delegate the heavy lifting to someone who wants to do the work for you

Measure what matters so you can see the progress you are making and easily identify your return on investment

Plan your time so you don’t get caught up in the Zone of Social Time Drain

Not only will you learn powerful new skills at this workshop, you will also leave with an array of tools to help you succeed:

The Social Media Business Model – A one page plan completed by you to help you move forward and take action

Simple Goal Setting Formula – One that you can use over and over again to help you achieve all your business goals

Measure What Matters Dashboard – A dashboard to measure all aspects of your business so you can see exactly how your business is progressing each month.

According to Socialnomics, if you are not using Social Media, your business may not exist in the next five years. This workshop is guaranteed to propel you forward and create success in the upcoming year.

Do you know what your brand is?

When you think of the word brand what comes to mind? Do you think only about your logo? Or, do you think on a much bigger scale?

From soft drinks to sneakers, handbags to cars – we all have our favorite brands. For some it may be Coca Cola or Nike. Or, maybe Coach and BMW. But what’s really important is this: When you think of these brands, do you only think of their logo?

I didn’t think so.

Think about Tiffany. That little blue box says it all. It’s hard to believe that they are so popular people even buy the actual boxes (and copycats) on eBay. That’s the power of a brand.

I am SHOCKED by the number of people who think that their brand is defined by a logo. What you need to understand is that, there is a new kind of brand going on right now. That brand is Brand YOUand it is so much more than just a logo!

That’s right. As of this moment, you are going to start to think of yourself differently. You are a brand. You are every bit as important and as capable of a brand as the ones I have described above.

The only difference between you and the brand managers who run these large powerful organizations is the time and attention you are giving the brand of YOU.

Just look and you will see it all around you right now. Other people who are garnering all kinds of attention around their business and you wonder: “How did they do that?” “Why does she always look so well put together?” “How come all her “stuff” looks so well thought out?

The cold hard truth is this – People judge you based on how you look, what you know and do, and the words you use. How others perceive you is the core to identifying the Brand of YOU.

In this session you will learn exactly how to create the brand of you and will walk away with your own personal brand rules that are fundamental to the way you think about you and your business moving forward.

You will learn how to define the brand of you.

You will learn how to increase the visibility of that brand.

You will learn the details that make an impression on your brand.

You will learn the power of words, colours and style.

You will learn why values matter and how word of mouth marketing can make your brand take off faster than ever before.

You will walk away with a clear sense of your power and the guidelines that must be followed in order for the personal brand of you to really take off.

Are you really sick and tired of walking into a room and not being recognized? Are you ready to change that and stand up, stand out and be known for who you are and what you have to offer the world?

I’ve had several questions lately about Pinterest, the new Social Media platform that’s sweeping the globe. So, of course I decided that today’s blog should cover everything you need to know on it. What I didn’t expect was that one of my fabulous clients, Tonya Davidson, would beat me to the punch and create an awesome quick start guide to this great new tool!

She did such a wonderful job that I want to share her post with you all here. After you read it and get all setup in Pinterest be sure and follow me on there! If you don’t have an account yet and need an invite just leave me a comment here on the blog and I’ll get one out to you asap!

Do you love magazines? Do you have an inspiration board (corkboard where you have pretty pictures tacked up)? Do you have tear pages from magazines which you just can’t seem to get organized to enjoy?

I happen to love visual images! They inspire me, they invigorate my mind, and they also let me dream. I dream about pieces I want to create, materials I want to work with, places I want to go, things I want to experience, etc. This is exactly what Pinterest is! It is a visual Facebook! It’s a lot of fun! Plus it’s great for your branding.

How Can I Get Onto the Pinterest Site?

Currently, you can go to www.pinterest.com and apply for an invite or you can email me at tonya@tonyadavidson.com and I’ll invite you! It’s faster if you are invited by someone already on Pinterest.

Are you getting the most out of your e-Marketing?

Email Marketing is the one way you can consistently reach out and communicate with your clients. And, it is the ONLY WAY to reach them when you want wherever they are thanks to the Internet and Mobile Technology.

Something this important can’t be left to chance and guesswork. You have to learn how to use this platform to grab attention, engage and share your message with your audience. During this hour-long, instant download workshop I cover:

Why consistency is key and how sending a weekly newsletter will build a better relationship with those on your list.

The importance of using autoresponders and followup sequences to make an impression.

Why you should create campaigns and how to use them to improve your sales.

When to send a solo e-blast and what it should include.

That Can-SPAM really can cost you time and money and how to ensure you comply.

The importance of subject lines to grab attention and draw the reader in.

Which words you should avoid and why so that you stay out of spam folders and stay in front of your clients and prospects.

How to measure your readership, click-throughs, bounces and skips, and how these numbers affect your business.

I started following Chris Brogan on Twitter years ago. His book, Trust Agents, was one of the earlier books that I read in the Social Media space and when I read that he had a telecom background like myself – I couldn’t resist. I had to send him a tweet and tell him how much I enjoyed his book.

To my utter shock, he replied! Not only did he reply, he had an actual conversation back and forth with me.

That was years ago and the conversations have continued on Twitter, Facebook and most recently Google+ where he was one of the early pioneers who influenced me to set up my plus account. (Chris has a new book about Google+ too)

I asked Chris if I could interview him for The Social Business Academy because, as I have watched his platform grow over the past few years, I have observed one thing – Chris is still the same guy.

He still has conversations with new people on a regular basis. He still replies, engages and treats others with respect. He still creates great content on a regular basis and helps others for free. He still takes time to explain to people why he does things like unfollow everyone on Twitter and then selectively follow back those he converses with.

Social Media allows individuals to create relationships with a larger audience than ever before. The very thing that can help you create success in your business can also bring you down if you let your ego get in the way. Chris to me, exemplifies the name of his business – Human Business Works.

This coming Thursday, I have the privilege of interviewing Chris for The Social Business Academy (register for FREE by using the form below or click here) where we will talk about the path he has created to success online, his new book, and gain some wisdom and advice from him on how people can best utilize social media for their business. I am guessing we will talk about the power of relationships, community and people – because that’s what Chris is all about.

Let’s face it, we all love to feel like we are valued and appreciated. There is nothing better than receiving an email from a client telling you how you impacted their life and their learning. It is times like this when you feel happy and successful in your business.

The benefits of testimonials are HUGE – especially with everyone doing business on the web. The new verbiage for Testimonial is “social proof” or your “social reputation”.

A good testimonial provides a potential new client with real proof that you actually do great work. Many people think that a testimonial or endorsement from a big celebrity is the way to go. I disagree with that because I think people are looking for the experiences of others who are just like them. They can relate to these people and it validates the testimonial.

Believe it or not, this is why I did not post my testimonial from Deepak Chopra on my site. It just felt too disconnected from my audience. And, although I really respect and admire him, and feel privileged to have helped him, reality is, most of my clients are not of the celebrity stature that he is.

You would be surprised how many people actually check out your testimonials, your Linkedin recommendations and what people are saying about you in other areas online. The web is a wealth of information and you need to do your due diligence to capture the best things that are being said about you.

With this in mind, I want to share with you seven simple tips for maximizing testimonials in your business:

1. Do fantastic work.

If you do a great job and deliver value to your clients, then they will be happy to write a testimonial for you. In fact, don’t just deliver value, try and over deliver on value! Incorporate a little extra so your client feels wowed and really excited and happy about the experience they have working with you.

2. Have Perfect Timing

You always want to ask for a testimonial at the right time. Practice listening for signs that someone really loves what you have done for them and, if you hear them say how much you have helped them more than once, step up and ask them if they’d feel comfortable writing what they just said as a testimonial for you.

Whenever I am asking a client for a testimonial I give athem the option to say no if they don’t feel comfortable and let them know I am totally cool with that. Once you ask – let them do the work, don’t harass them, because then you stand to diminish the good will you have built up with them.

3. Always Practice Sincerity

Be sincere when you ask. Let the client know that you are happy that they have had positive results working with you and let them know that what they have to say could be helpful to other people considering working with you.

Be authentic, and try and avoid pitches like “my business is built on referrals, I would really appreciate you doing this for me” as they take away someone’s desire to do this simply because it is a nice thing to do. When you say things like that, it starts to sound insincere because isn’t almost everyone’s business based on word of mouth to some degree?

4. Write one for someone else!

Duh! You attract what you give – basic law of attraction here – my client Marlene Keys would be so proud of that line. In all seriousness, if you have never taken time to write a quality testimonial for someone else, what makes you think someone should do it for you?

Make a list of 3-5 service providers you have worked with right now and write them a testimonial. Your endorsement will make them feel great and you will have engaged the law of reciprocity. Good things are headed your way! And, if you aren’t sure where to do this, start by using Linkedin and sending recommendations to people there. It’s quick and easy.

5. Pay attention and thank people regularly

This might sound funny but, pay attention to your email, your Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin comments as well as those on your blog. People are saying great things to you and about you all the time – the question is are you paying attention?

Pay attention and acknowledge them publicly. This act of graciousness will actually prompt other people to respond in kind because they know you are the type of person who truly appreciates it. You always have an audience, start paying attention to what people are saying!

6. Create some Link Love

When you post a testimonial on your website you should always link to the other person’s website. This type of linking allows your reader to easily click through and learn a bit about the other person, creating a win/win situation.

Not only that, the link helps the other person’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and adds credibility to the testimonial. It gives extra weight and proof that the person really exists.

7. Leverage what they say on Social Media

On Twitter, one of my secrets to testimonials is use of favorites. I favorite every nice thing people say about me and, if you go to my Twitter Favorite Page, you can see tons of testimonials. This makes it easy for a Twitter user to click and ask anyone who has posted a complementary comment a question about what they have written about me.

The secondary benefit of this page is, if I am having a bad day, I can go there and read all the nice things people have said and I end up feeling better. I like to refer to it as my feel good page!

I love receiving testimonials. I regularly feature them in my newsletter and often feature them on my website allowing the person who wrote the testimonial to benefit from all the traffic I get. I also only ever post testimonials that are 100% true.

You could click through to any person and ask them a question and what is written is exactly what they said. This allows me to reference my testimonials with pride for they are completely authentic.

Next, let me give you some extra help on how to craft your next testimonial. Here are three ways you can make your next testimonial pure awesome:

1. Focus on what you learned, rather than what the other person taught.

2. Talk about outcome or results you gained by working with that person.

3. Make it sincere and authentic.

If this article helped you, please leave a comment below and let me know. Also if you have another suggestion about testimonials that can be helpful, I would love to hear it!

This month I had the opportunity to speak at Peggy McColl’s Author event in Sarasota and then, at the Wedding Event Suppliers of Ottawa event here at home. In talking to these two groups, I discovered an interesting tidbit of information.

I am guilty. I subscribe – a lot. I couldn’t even tell you how many lists I am currently subscribed to.

I join these mailing lists for many different reasons. For one, I love to learn. When it comes to new information, especially something related to my business or that of my customers, I am like a sponge! I also like to study how other people do things. I want to see what works for others and use that to find ways to improve my own communication.

Now, those of you who are on my mailing list know that it is something I guard like a mother bear protecting her cubs. I am VERY careful this information and will never share it with anyone else. Unfortunately, this no longer seems to be the norm.

Recently, there seems to be an increase in list mishaps or improper handling. In the past 30 days alone, I have received two emails from individuals that were signed by different people. Now, I have no problem with being blunt about this. It bugs me! If I subscribe to someone’s mailing list, I expect to receive mail from that person…not someone else. And, if I do receive a communication from someone else, I am going to assume that there is a problem with either the account having been hacked or my information being shared with someone else.

One situation took place last week when I received an email from Bill’s email address, but signed by someone named Jennifer. My initial thought was that someone had hacked into Bill’s account and was using it for their own purposes. As a business person, I know that I would want someone to notify me if this happens, so I immediately told Bill that his email must have been hacked. He replied and explained that “business partner”, Jennifer, chose the wrong auto-responder in the from line of their email marketing program by accident.

I am not sure what kind of response that was supposed to trigger in me, but I do know that it made me extremely wary. You and I both know that everyone says they will never, ever share your email address with anyone, right? It is right there on their website, email signup form and the emails themselves. So, if that is the case, how does my email get mixed in to a list from both Bill and Jennifer?

After pondering this for a few days, the only answer I can come up with is list sharing. It is glaringly obvious to me that these two people have total access to one another’s list. And, whether accidental or not, it is wrong! When I signed up for this mailing list I subscribed to Bill’s emails. Nowhere did it say, “I will never, ever share your email address with anyone, except my business partner Jennifer.”

So, aside from the obvious reason of wondering who else has access to the information I provided when I signed up for this mailing list, why does this bother me? Internet marketing is a HUGE business. There are people who end up making thousands and thousands of dollars buying and selling lists and destroying credibility and reputations of anyone in the world of internet marketing. I am a small fish in a very big ocean in this industry, but I have built my success by earning the trust of my clients. When people do things like this they make us ALL look bad.

I wanted to talk about this topic and my experience today for two reasons. One – I want you to be aware this is happening. And, two – I want you to know that I will never, ever, ever, ever participate in this type of thing.

Integrity is one of the most important parts of my brand (as it should be with yours). I will never share any of your information with anyone else. That’s it, that’s all – I promise.

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TESTIMONIALS

"Loving this program because it is not a passive, feel-good look at being an entrepreneur. It is roll your sleeves up, answer the really hard questions, and participate in your own success kind of work!”... Read More